by Lucy Fear
He laughed and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll think about it. Rory did say you were about to have your birthday.”
“Yes, August fifth.” She nodded. “But no plotting. I’m not much for big parties.”
“Me neither,” he agreed. “The meeting this afternoon is about as fancy as I’m likely to get.”
“I sure hope this idea works to reveal the person behind all this turmoil,” Rhi said with a heavy sigh. “This guy is about as annoying as he can get.”
“No, I’m fairly sure he could be more annoying still,” Brendan disagreed.
“What makes you say that?” she wanted to know.
“Neither one of us is dead.”
Rhi shuddered. “Well, yeah, there is that. But once he finds out we’re engaged, what happens then? He told me to my face he wants to steal me away. Won’t knowing we plan to marry make him go after you even more?”
“It might help us out if he did,” Brendan pointed out. “The more he attacks, the more opportunity you’ll have to do your thing. Seeing exactly who we are dealing with is more important than ever now that we’re having a baby. I certainly don’t want that guy interfering with that.”
“Yeah, I suppose that does add another layer of urgency,” Rhi agreed. “But we’ve got a couple hours before we can do that.”
“Let’s get some lunch and go work on the book,” Brendan suggested.
The pair of them went into the dining room in search of a meal. There was always a waiter hanging around in case people came in looking for food, since the castle always had staff, employees, and maybe a guest or two to feed. When they entered, the man was quick to greet them.
“Good afternoon, sir, madam,” he said. “Are you in search of lunch?”
“Yes, please,” Brendan said. “Nothing fancy, we’re just hungry.”
“There are sandwiches made up if you’d like a couple of them,” he offered.
“Yeah, sure, that would be fine,” he nodded.
“You, too, Miss Woods?”
“Yes, please.”
After they’d eaten, Brendan and Rhi started walking to the study, but as they stepped into the hallway they stopped short. Three rattlesnakes looked up at them and began to shake their tails in warning. Brendan began to walk slowly away. Rhi, however, took a different approach when she began to dance and weave. The snakes stared at her, and soon began to dance as well.
“Brendan, move slowly toward the study door,” she told him. “Keep your hands out where they can be seen, and don’t show any signs of fear. Do it now.”
Without argument, Brendan slowly moved down the hall and to the door. He made it in one piece and quickly got inside, shutting the door behind him. However, it was very hard to keep it closed as he worried about Rhi. He wanted to look and see if she was getting across the hallway as well, but he knew that he would distract the snake, or maybe even her, from the charming dance if he did.
Finally, she stepped inside the door.
“More snakes,” she said dryly as she closed it again. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“No, you’re right about that,” Brendan agreed. “I’ll have them removed so we can walk out of here at three.”
“We need to start closing the doors into this hallway at both ends,” Rhi said. “It might help keep it free of the things. Though if he’d been manipulating the creatures to make their way here, he could just as easily use his powers to open the door. At best, it would only prove the theory that their presence is an unnatural event.”
“I don’t know about you, Rhi, but I’m feeling convinced enough already,” Brendan commented dryly. “This really needs to stop. I’m not so worried about being in a bit of danger myself, but I can’t have this guy endangering the lives and well-being of my staff, my family, or my friends.
Just because those snakes are meant for me doesn’t mean that I’m the one who is going to be bitten. They could go after anyone—including my daughter. Maybe not you, since you seem to have some power to keep yourself safe, but still. I’ve got to keep everyone safe somehow.”
Brendan called out on the house phone to explain the presence of the three snakes to whoever was on the other end. “Yes, I know you had to get rid of one snake just the other day, Mrs. Cummings. I’m sure I don’t know how they are getting in, but somebody will need to figure that out. Yes, I’m in my study now. Have Higgins report to me directly once the individuals have been cleared away.”
Rhi was looking speculatively toward the door. “So, which one of those brothers is some sort of a snake charmer?” she inquired sweetly.
“None that I know of,” Brendan replied. “I begin to think we’re dealing with something a lot bigger than mere jealousy. You said this man resents that I’ve been making money off my magic, right? But I don’t see any of the Fuller boys being interested in something like that. Every one of them would be more inclined to do the same thing themselves.”
“Then who do you know that wouldn’t? And not just staff, don’t forget about students, or people who helped you to learn your skills in the past.”
Several loud thumps sounded out in the hall, followed by one man’s scream. “Oh, the bastard bit me. Bag that one up, Lloyd. We’ll need to bring him along to see what kind of anti-venom I’ll need.”
“Hold that thought, Ken,” he said. “We’ve got one more snake to nab.”
A few more thuds, and then all was quiet. Somebody opened the door. “Sir? Looks like me and my friend here are going to require an ambulance.”
“So I heard, Higgins,” said Brendan guiltily. “That’ll be the last time I leave it for you boys to deal with. After this, I’m going to bring in the professionals. I can’t risk another member of the staff getting hurt because of me. Go and rest on the sofa, okay? Rhiannon, will you have a look at his wound while I get someone out here to help?”
“Sure thing,” she agreed.
CHAPTER TEN
The entire staff, with the exception of Higgins, was expected to gather in the main hall at three for the meeting. Most of them had no clue what the whole thing was about, though some of the maids were quick to explain it to the others.
“Mr. Drake has decided to take a wife,” said Mrs. Cummings more than once. “We’ve been brought here so he can introduce her to us all. I realize some of you have met her before, but there are those of us who have not. I’m sure it won’t take up a great deal of our time.”
“Well, that’s good,” said a straggler as she took her seat. “The bathroom floors aren’t going to clean themselves, you know.”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” Mrs. Cummings scoffed. “Those floors aren’t going anywhere.”
The happy couple walked past their bickering and headed to the front of the room. All along the way, Rhi did her best to get a sense of the people in the room without actually appearing to be sensing. It was a fine line, but she felt she did so admirably.
“I guess many of you already know the reason for this gathering, though some of you may not have heard,” said Rory as Brendan and Rhi stopped by him. “First, for those of you who are not aware, Miss Rhiannon Woods is actually my sister. I invited her here to learn a few things from Mr. Drake since she already shows great potential, but I never expected the two to hit it off quite so well.”
“If this is your sister, why was she brought to me as a coffee girl on her first day here?” Mrs. Cummings wanted to know.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss those details,” Rory explained. “You’ll learn more at the proper time. Suffice it to say, Rhiannon and Brendan hit it off so well, they have agreed to become husband and wife. And so, congratulations are in order—and an introduction of Rhiannon to those employees she has yet to meet.”
“Hear, hear,” called out some of the staff members who knew and loved Rhi already. Then there were a few who, though still resentful, decided to join the crowd as well. Toward the back of the assembly, keeping pretty much to themselves, were the Fuller brothers a
nd their father, conversing quietly together.
Unfortunately, as Rhi looked them over and sensed them a bit, she couldn’t find any sort of energy on the others that matched the sinister energy she’d felt on Allen. He, however, was well aware that she was sensing him. Their eyes met and held, and a challenge flared between them. Rhi let him know she was more than ready to win.
Brendan took hold of her hand, drawing her closer to his side, and immediately her eyes flew to a new source. Standing in the back also, but as far from the Fullers as possible, stood another dark-haired man, blue eyes blazing as he sneered. But though he was a strange sort of character, and he matched the description well, Rhi couldn’t sense any energy coming off of him at all.
The trouble was, one moment she saw him there, and the next he’d disappeared. Shaking her head, she wondered if the man’s presence had ever been physical at all, or if she’d simply dreamed him up somehow.
The employees in the room came to greet her in small groups, promptly leaving when they were done, but the man from the back, so far, was not among them. Even the Fullers stepped forward to shake her hands, and then they too were gone. Only about five or six people remained when suddenly he was there again, somehow stepping out of the shadows.
“Who is that?” Rhi whispered, inclining her head toward him.
Brendan said, “He’s not an employee, in the strongest sense of the word. He and I have worked together from time-to-time, but I have never hired him directly. In fact, he wasn’t invited to this meeting. I’m not even sure why he’s here.”
“Brendan, my old friend,” said the man as he stepped forward with what Rhi considered to be an insincere smile. “I heard about your little gathering, and thought I should come to congratulate you as well.”
“I see,” said Brendan, inclining his head as he shook the man’s hand. “Well then, Raven Baxter, I suppose I should introduce you to Rhi. My wife-to-be.”
“Lovely,” he said, smiling at her as well when he took her hand. “I had heard you were a psychic, my dear, but I did not expect to discover so much power. Have you been training with this one here? You know, he is only willing to teach you so much, but he never introduces his students to the dangerous side of his work. Unless I’m wrong, Brendan? Have you revealed any of your darker secrets to her?”
“My fiancée is new to magic, Bax.” Rhi could feel the tension pouring off his body as he spoke. “There are things she is not yet ready to know.”
“It is not for us to decide when she’s ready. You know that decision is completely up to the dragon.”
“This is not a discussion to have in the open, nor is it one I wish to entertain now,” Brendan hissed. “I thank you for coming, of course, but I believe it’s time for you to go.”
“Don’t shoot the messenger, my friend. Did you not think the events leading to this moment must be interconnected somehow? The ancient ways are not so easily dismissed, once they have become known. We shall meet again, Rhiannon. Soon, I think. Congratulations, you two.”
Before they could say anything more, Bax was gone once again, just as though his presence had never been. Rhi blinked up at Brendan, confused. “How does he keep doing that?” she wanted to know.
“He is here only in shadow,” Brendan explained. “As he said, it’s part of the dragon’s ways. Come back to the study with me, and I will explain. This is nothing the servants need to know.”
***
Brendan and Rhi were seated as if to meditate, legs crossed and bodies facing each other as they sat on the floor. Both had breathed until they’d reached a relaxed state, and so the story that he was about to tell her was whispered within her mind as well as spoken aloud.
“Several years ago, while I was still looking for the path I would take, I wanted to learn about all the many different magic of which I’d heard. In one story, I learned of a place, deep in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains, where one might join with a dragon. Of course, it’s obvious I went there, since I contain one such dragon within me now.”
“Understood,” said Rhi with a nod of her head.
“The path to joining with a dragon is long and dark, with many dangers a person must face. At one point in time, a much bigger dragon than my own challenged me, seeking to learn if I was worthy. Though I passed the test, it said something to me which did not seem to make sense at the time, but which now I begin to understand.
It said, ‘there will come a day when the one you love will be my own.’ If Bax is here, and because you are the one I love, I begin to fear the whole attack thing may be nothing more than a smoke screen for the dragon. Perhaps it has been toying with us all along. It could easily have brought you to this place knowing that we would fall in love. Seeing into the future is one of the talents it does best.”
“You think this dragon has been accosting us?” Rhi asked worriedly. “But if that’s true, how does Allen Fuller fit into this thing?”
“If I’m right, I believe the Ancient One has been using him to get to me,” said Brendan with a frown. “Even a dragon can’t reach halfway across the world from its physical presence unless it has latched onto something. But if it’s channeling itself through Allen, there’s no one and nothing it can’t reach.”
“But if all of this is true, what are we supposed to do to stop it?”
“There’s only one thing,” Brendan said gravely. “Somehow, we’ll have to arrange a physical meeting. You’ll have to be the winner in a battle of wills. You’ll have to earn the right to your own dragon.”
Rhi stared at Brendan like she’d just seen an alien. Did he seriously expect her to spar with such a thing? Then again, she reminded herself, if what he was saying was true, she and the dragon had probably been sparring already.
*
Despite what had happened the day before, Brendan saw no reason why they should cancel his upcoming seminar. So, the following morning, bright and early, Rory, Rhi, Brendan, and all of the other staff members who needed to go, loaded up into their various vehicles for the journey.
Rhi was feeling a mixture of things ranging from nervous excitement to curiosity and maybe even anticipation. She’d never been to a seminar before, of course, so that just made this occasion even more interesting. The trouble was, after what happened yesterday, it was more dangerous, too.
Brendan and Rhi took a separate car, with the rest of the crew traveling in a bus.The drive out to Sacramento was beautiful, with pockets of nature and pockets of city equally catching her eye. After the quiet nature that surrounded her for almost a month, the bustle of city life felt strange. Then again, Rhi had never really been one to enjoy the city.
The seminar was to be held in a facility right in the heart of Sacramento, so traffic slowed them down a bit as they neared their final destination. By the time they got out of the car, Rhi was very grateful that they had arrived.
“You seem tense, my dear,” Brendan said, rubbing the small of her back as they left the parking lot and headed inside.
“I dislike heavy traffic,” she admitted. “It’s one of the reasons I don’t like to drive.”
“Whoever heard of a CIA agent who doesn’t want to drive?” He chuckled.
“I always jogged to work each day,” she admitted with a rueful smile.
“Well, it seems to have kept you in shape,” he grinned. “I know you can run circles around me.”
“Come on, that’s silly,” she grumbled. “You keep up with me just fine when we run.”
“That’s because we only run for twenty minutes, tops,” he pointed out. “I doubt I could last over a long haul. Not without help from my inner dragon, anyway. Pay attention to that part, Rhi. It might be important to remember later.”
“You mean because you intend to prepare me to seek a dragon,” she stated mildly. “Yes, I suppose it’s good that I’ve already been running all this time. But somehow I think I may need a bit more than speed to be ready for that journey.”
“Well, let’s not discuss that i
nside, okay?” he reminded her. “These people don’t need to be given any ideas they’re not ready to handle. A lot of them are complete rookies; people who have come here just to see if what I’m offering is even believable, let alone something they would want to pursue. Always consider your audience in everything you do, Rhi. It’ll save you a lot of grief in the end.”
“I could have sworn you were here to educate the paying customers, Brendan,” Rhi teased him.
“I am.” He chuckled. “Just thought I’d use you to warm up.”
“We can do that later,” she replied suggestively.
“Oh yes, once we’ve survived the day I fully intend to celebrate. I hope you’ll be ready.”
“You know I will be.”
When they stepped inside, Rhi’s suspicion was confirmed that this building was a stadium of some sort. The wooden flooring at its center indicated that they were making use of a basketball court. The seating, which was filled to capacity, indicated just how popular Brendan Drake and his Druids and Dreams stores actually were. Most of the crew had already gone to do their jobs, leaving Rory conspicuously behind to wait for them.
“I want you and Rory to stay here in the breakroom,” said Brendan as they stepped into it and set down their things. “It’ll be much safer for you in here, and you’ll be able to view the whole show through the monitors.”
“Nuts to that,” Rhi complained. “I didn’t come all the way out to your show just to get stuck in the kiddie corner. I want to see you up close and personal. I’m not going to be intimidated by some unseen jerk.”
“I don’t have time to argue about this,” Brendan sighed. “Rory, I asked you to keep her safe. See if you can talk some reason into her. I’ve really got to go.”
“Will do, sir.”
Rhi bristled. “Hey, you don’t get to tell me what to do like this! I’m your fiancée, not your property.”
“Baby, I’m only trying to keep you safe,” he insisted. “When you’ve built up your abilities, by all means, you can even stand on the stage by my side. But right now, I want to be certain you’ll live to see another day. All right?”
